Did Crista Flanagan & Nicole Parker ruin their future Hollywood prospects by working for Seltzer & Friedberg
I mean, they were arguably carrying MADtv on the female front during its last few years. And then, they decided to hitch the wagon on Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer's god-awful cinematic "comedies":
https://nypost.com/2014/01/24/meet-the-worst-filmmakers-in-hollywood/
To give you some proper perspective:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/StarDerailingRole/FilmActresses
Crista Flanagan's performance on later seasons of MADtv was promising, showing she could potentially be a great comedian despite the series' decline in popularity and quality. Then she repeatedly appeared in films made by Seltzer and Friedberg, starting with 2007's Epic Movie, and soon became the most recurring actress in their films. MADtv proved to be her peak in terms of media exposure, as she never landed a major role in any other feature film ever since. She was relegated to playing bit roles on TV series, featuring on webseries, and has apparently moved on to become a Program Director for an acting school, presumably because acting opportunities for her are becoming fewer.
Nicole Parker was almost universally regarded by fans of MADtv as a fan favourite, especially considering she was often one of the few highlights of a comedy sketch show that was otherwise declining in quality and popularity. Unfortunately, much like Crista Flanagan, she made her feature film debut in the Seltzer and Friedberg films Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie, and like Flanagan, in retrospect this may be the biggest mistake she made in her career. She has never landed a major role in any other feature film since. She did appear in Judd Apatow's Funny People, but it was a small role and largely fanservice, which might have influenced her unstated aversion to do any more feature films. Nicole still managed to turn her acting career around by playing to her greatest strengths — Broadway performances, although she remains largely in D-list obscurity even after landing the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/StarDerailingRole/MultipleOffenders
Disaster Movie by Seltzer and Friedberg hastened the decline of the Spoof film genre, and ruining the careers of promising comedians, most notably the Mad TV alumni cast members Ike Barinholtz, Nicole Parker and Crista Flanagan. Ike Barinholtz avoided a long-term slump in his career and became a successful and recognizable comedian - even if he is not even in the B-list. However, the same cannot be said of Nicole Parker and Crista Flanagan, both of whom had their feature film debut in the Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg movies. Giving the movie industry such a first impression quickly doomed the actresses into D-list obscurity and ensured MADtv remains their peak in terms of media exposure. Since then, both actresses never managed (or simply refused) to get significant roles in any other movies. Nicole Parker moved on to mostly Broadway shows and theater performances, her most notable post-MADtv role being Elphaba in the Wicked Broadway musical. Crista Flanagan took on bit roles in various TV work and featured in various web series, of which her most notable was that of Lois Sadler in Mad Men. Nowadays, she is probably a part-timer in her former profession, given that she became a Program Director for an acting school.
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